Designing a framework and validating a tool for evaluating the educational quality of serious games: a meta-synthesis

In recent decades, at the same time as the quantitative growth in the industry of serious games, its quality has also been the focus of investors, researchers, and developers. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to design a framework and validate a tool for evaluating the educational quality of serious games. (i.e., a questionnaire). Evaluation frameworks and questionnaires are fundamental tools for designing and developing serious games. The method of this research was meta-synthesis with a mixed approach. Based on this, 5807 articles were identified during the years 1995 to 2021, and finally, 29 articles were selected for analysis. By analyzing these articles, basic dimensions, components, and indicators were extracted and turned into an evaluation tool using thematic analysis with the purpose of validation. First, the content validity of this tool was obtained by purposive sampling technique with the participation of 30 serious game experts. Then, for the validity of the constructs, a sample equal to the community was assumed, and the tool was sent to the members of the National Computer Games Foundation, and 537 people participated in completing the tool. Finally, the data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. The findings of first and second-order factor analysis confirmed all dimensions, components, and indicators of the tool with a factor load (above 0.40) and a significant coefficient (above 1.96). Therefore, this meta-synthesis led to the design of the framework and the validation of the educational quality evaluation tool of serious games with 4 dimensions, 25 components, and 138 indicators. We argue that the proposed framework and tool are able to evaluate the educational quality of a serious game and cover its design project end to end. We thus propose them as a suitable resource for researchers and developers of serious games

Assessment of the Relationship between Body Mass Index and Gross Motor Development in Children

How to Cite This Article: Amouian S, AbbasiShaye Z, Mohammadian S, Bakhtiari M, Parsianmehr B. Assessment of the Relationship between Body Mass Index and Gross Motor Development in Children. Iran J Child Neurol.Summer 2017; 11(3):7-14. AbstractObjectiveObesity is a growing epidemic and public health problem in children. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of body mass index (BMI) on the gross motor development.Materials & MethodsIn this cross-sectional study conducted in 2012-13 in Gorgan, northern Iran, the gross motor development of 90 children 3-5 yr old in three groups of lean, normal and obese/overweight were evaluated by the ages and stages questionnaires (ASQ) and Denver 2 scale.ResultsTotally, 90 children were enrolled and their developmental level was assessed with two ASQ and Denver II indices. The mean and standard deviation of the ASQ scores of the children was 53.11± 11.06 and based on Denver index, 9 children (10%) were at developmental delay status, 15 (16.7%) in the caution conditions, and 53 (58.9%) at normal developmental status. The developmental level was lower in obese/overweight group comparing with other groups according to both Denver and ASQ and there was a significant difference between obese/overweight group and normal group based in Denver and ASQ, respectively. There was no significant difference between underweight and normal and obese and underweight groups.ConclusionOverweight and obesity could affect on the gross motor development. References1. Deforche B, De Bourdeaudhuij I, D’hondt E, Cardon G. Objectively measured physical activit, physical activity related personality and body mass index in 6- to 10-yrold children: across-sectional study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2009;14;6:25.2. 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The effect of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease’s severity on complications after coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Background and aims: Smoking is an important etiologic factor for cardiac and pulmonary diseases. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is common in candidates for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery. Severity of COPD is determined with spirometry. The aim of this study was comparison of complications after CABG in COPD patients with different severity and without COPD. Methods: This study is a cross sectional research. We divided 125 CABG patients more than 40 years old based on preoperative spirometry to four groups: without COPD (60), mild (29), moderate (24) and severe (12). Spirometry was done using spirometer MIR, made in Italia. Mortality and postoperative complications including cardiovascular and respiratory were recorded until 30 days after the surgery. Data were analyzed by SPSS, fisher exact test and 2χ, and P˂0.05) was considered significant. Results: Complications with significant difference between groups were atrial fibrillation (AF) and delirium. Frequency of AF was: Without COPD 6 (10%), mild COPD 6 (20.70 %), moderate COPD 7 (29.20%), and severe COPD 5 (41.70%) (P=0.02), and delirium was: Without COPD 3 (5%), mild COPD 1 (3.40%), moderate COPD 3 (12.5%), and severe COPD 5 (41.70%) (P=0.003). Conclusion: Based on our results, COPD even moderate and severe is not contraindication of CABG. These patients should be carefully evaluated before surgery and must be treated preoperative completely by the specialist. Under this condition, patients can tolerate and benefit from surgery with acceptable risk

Salivary Secretor Status of Blood Group Antigens in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancers include malignancies of the scalp and neck skin, nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, oral cavity, salivary glands, pharynx and larynx. The term ABO secretor refers to people who secrete blood group antigens in their body fluids such as saliva, sweat, tears, semen, and serum. Non-secretors refer to those who do not secrete their blood group antigens in their body fluids. The lack of blood type antigens in body discharge increases the susceptibility to certain types of diseases and infection. AIM: Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between the secretion of blood groups in the saliva of patients with head and neck cancers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 110 people (57 patients with head and neck cancer who were referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran and 53 cancer-free controls). Five ml of non-stimulated saliva were collected by the spitting method. By agglutination or lack of agglutination in the test tubes, we determined the patient’s secretor or non-secretor condition. RESULTS: In terms of secretor status, 52.7% of all samples were secretors. In the case group, 19 out of 57 cases (33.3%) were secretors, and 38 were non-secretors (66.7%). In the control group, 39 out of 53 cases (73.6%) were secretors, and 14 cases were non-secretors (26.4%). There was a significant difference in the percentage of non-secretors between the two groups (p = 0.00). CONCLUSION: People with non-secretor status may be more prone to develop head and neck cancer. The presence of these antigens in saliva may have a protective effect

Pemphigus Disease: A geoepidemiologic preliminary study in Iran

Objectives Pemphigus is an autoimmune, life-threatening, blistering disease. Knowledge about the epidemiology of this disease however, is still limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and geographic distribution of pemphigus patients in Iran.Methods Medical records of patients with definitive diagnosis of pemphigus disease during a seven-year period from March 2006 to March 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. All individuals were classified based on geographical aspects.Results A total of 110 patients (59 females and 51 males) with an average age of 46.5 ± 13.6 for the females and 45.8± 12.5 for the males were evaluated. Male patients were slightly younger than female patients, but the difference was not statistically significant. Also, there was no significant association between age and the year of frequency. The most frequent type of pemphigus was the vulgaris type (93.6%). On the base of climate, the highest frequency was seen in the Moderate to severe internal (very hot) desert area and the humid and temperate climates (Caspian). There was no significant difference between the mean ages of pemphigus patients in the four geographic regions, (P value=0.421). Based on altitude in each climatic region, less than 10% of patients were from high altitude areas.Conclusion Environmental factors are important in frequency of autoimmune disease including pemphigus.  We concluded that the frequency of pemphigus disease might be different in different climates and altitude. Further research towards the improvement of data on the geographical study could open up a field to identify the patterns of pemphigus diseas

Different effect of green tea consumption on salivary antioxidant status in light versus heavy smokers

Objectives Oxidative stress consequent to cigarette smoking may alter the salivary antioxidant defense system and lead to oral cancer. Green tea, with antioxidant properties, interacts with saliva upon entering the mouth. This experimental study explored the preventive effect of green tea on cigarette smoke-induced oxidative damage over 3 weeks.Methods In this clinical trial study sixty volunteer healthy male smokers (light and heavy) and non-smokers were selected according to the inclusion criteria. Participants of each three groups were instructed to drink 4g of green tea (prepared with 300 ml hot water) daily, for three weeks. Total antioxidant capacity of saliva was measured at baseline, after 7 days, and after 21 days in each group. Repeated measure ANOVA with Bonferroni adjustment was performed for statistical analysis.Results Non-smokers had a higher amount of salivary total antioxidant capacity at baseline (p<0.001). After 7days of green tea consumption total antioxidant capacity of non-smokers and light smokers showed no statistical difference (p=0.075), this trend continued until 21 days. In the heavy smokers total antioxidant capacity was still different from the other two groups (p<0.001). However, the maximum positive alteration of salivary total antioxidant capacity from day zero to day 21 occurred in the heavy smoker group (p< 0.001).Conclusion Although findings support the role of green tea drinking in reducing oxidative damage in saliva of both groups of smokers, heavy smokers showed the most significant change in total antioxidant capacity levels over three weeks

Quality of the Results Section of Original Dental Articles Published in National Farsi and International English Journals

Objective: Lack of scientific writing skills is one major problem encountered for publication of research results of Iranian scientists in accredited journals. As the result, many research projects or dissertation findings remain unpublished. This study aimed to assess the quality of writing of the “results” section of some original articles published in Iranian Farsi and international English journals.Methods: This analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted on 64 dental articles published in 3 international English and 3 Iranian Farsi journals. Selection of journals was non-random but articles were selected randomly based on specific criteria. A checklist containing 32 criteria regarding general statistics, context of the results, statistical tests, tables, charts and graphs was prepared. Obtained data were analyzed by SPSS 10 using Fisher’s exact and chi square tests.Results: Farsi articles met 64.1% and English articles met 65.8% of the checklist criteria. No significant difference was found in the quality of the results section of Farsi and English papers (p>0.05).Conclusion: Most papers did not provide adequate details in the results section to help readers better comprehend the subject

Evaluation and Comparison of Choroidal Thickness in Patients with Behçet Disease with versus without Ocular Involvement

Purpose: To assess the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in patients with Behçet disease (BD) and compare the SFCT in patients with and without ocular BD (OBD) and between patients with active and quiescent phases of the Behçet’s posterior uveitis. Method: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with BD (n = 51) between October 2016 and October 2018. Complete ocular examinations including slit lamp biomicroscopy and fundus examination with dilated pupils were performed for all patients. The SFCT values were compared between patients with and without OBD. Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI–OCT) was done to measure the SFCT, and wide field fundus fluorescein angiography (WF–FAG) was performed to evaluate the ocular involvement and determine the active or quiescent phases of the Behçet’s posterior uveitis. The correlation between the changes of SFCT and the WF-FAG scores was assessed. Results: One hundred and two eyes of 51 patients with BD, aged 29 to 52 years were studied. Of these, 23 patients were male. The mean age ± standard deviation in patients with OBD and patients without ocular involvement was 38.71 ± 7.8 and 36.22 ± 10.59 years (P = 0.259) respectively. The mean SFCT in patients with OBD was significantly greater than in patients without OBD (364.17 ± 93.34 vs 320.43 ± 56.70 μm; P = 0.008). The difference of mean SFCT between the active compared to quiescent phase was not statistically significant when only WF-FAG criteria were considered for activity (368.12 ± 104.591 vs 354.57 ± 58.701 μm, P = 0.579). However, when the disease activity was considered based on both WF-FAG and ocular exam findings, SFCT in the active group was higher than the inactive group (393.04 ± 94.88 vs 351.65 ± 58.63 μm, P = 0.060). This difference did not reach statistical significance, but it was clinically relevant. Conclusion: Choroidal thickness was significantly increased in BD patients with ocular involvement; therefore, EDI-OCT could be a noninvasive test for evaluation of ocular involvement in patients with BD. The increased SFCT was not an indicative of activity in OBD; however, it could predict possible ocular involvement throughout the disease course

Coincidence of Compound Odontoma and Cemento Ossifying Fibroma; A Rare Case Report

Objective: Cemento-ossifying fibroma defines as a relative rare osteogenic neoplasm of the jaw. This tumor includes fibrous and osseous components. Odontoma is the most common odontogenic tumor containing enamel ,dentin ,cementum and pulp tissue. in this paper we report a  rare case of ossifying fibroma associated with compound odontoma in the mandible. Case: A 37-years-old woman was referred to Oral Medicine department , Shahid Beheshti Dental School with complaint of swelling in the anterior part of the mandible, over 6 years period. Clinical examination revealed mandibular enlargement in right –anterior region with labial and lingual expansion and canine missing . panoramic view showed a large mixed radiolucent -  radiopaque lesion associated with impacted canine.The differential diagnosis include calcifying odontogenic cyst (COC) and cemento-ossifying fibroma(COF). Histopathologic examination established diagnosis of COF with multiple compound odontoma .Conclusion: The relationship between the occurrence of these two lesions is not clear and more studies are needed to establish the relationship between them